Run Away LA
by Leonidas42
Summary: The sixteen year old Judith, now dubbed "LA" by just about everyone, lives on. Her father is dead and nobody knows where Carl is. How will she survive the world where zombies still roam and humans are still as dangerous as ever? My first story, I hope you like it.
1. Chapter 1

She was moving through the underbrush as quickly as possible. Prey animals were never more skittish this time year, but the group still needed to eat. The leaf litter was thick, but damp from last nights rain and it muffled her steps as she stalked the doe. She had been tracking the yearling doe for almost an hour now and it wasn't going to get away this time. Peeking around a large oak she spied her quarry. It was standing in a perfect spot. Roughly 30 yards away and it's side facing her made for a perfect shot. She immediately darted back behind the oak. As the bark as digging into her back, she realized she was breathing hard from the excitement. Gathering herself she focused on her breathing.  
"Inhale, exhale, nock, draw, release." She thought through her mantra once more. Pushing out the last of the air in her lungs, she turned out from behind oak and drew her bow. The turkey feather brushed her check as she took aim. The doe began turning its head in her direction but she had it in her sites and there was no escape. The twang of a string and all of a sudden a shaft was protruding from the doe's side. The unfortunate animal took one small bound forward but stumbled on its landing and fell, never to rise. The girl stood there, shocked. Her arrow was still in her hand and the bow was still drawn. She lowered her broad head arrow and relaxed her draw looking around for where the shot came from, but she already knew.  
"You probably woulda missed anyway LA." The man said as he loudly came toward her. His crossbow already slung around his shoulder and pulling out his Bowie knife.  
"I had it and you know it. We split up for a reason Unck." LA exasperated.  
"No, you wandered off. Why did I even bring you out here anyway." Unck exclaimed.  
"Cause you said you'd take me weeks ago and you finally got tired of hearing me whine." Quipped LA.  
"Anyway our bet still stands." Unck said as he threw his knife into the oak LA was standing in front of.  
"It was my kill and you stole it. That's my kill." LA exclaimed clearly exasperated.  
"My arrow, my kill, you clean. Don't worry I'll watch your back." Unck explained as he sat down on a fallen log with his back to the dead deer.  
LA pulled Unck's knife from the oak and started tramping over to the fallen animal.  
"Watch my back from what? Nobody's seen a walker in months Uncle Daryl." LA said, now resigned to her task.  
"Shhh, and I'd be happy to keep it that way." Daryl whipped back.  
"Whatever..." La said as she slashed the neck of the doe and let the still warm blood seep out of the doe's lifeless body.

"Can I have the antlers" Henry cried as he ran up to LA just as she was getting out of the truck.  
"It's a doe today, so no antlers" LA explained.  
"Does are girl deers right?" Henry asked.  
"Yep" LA said as she lightly pushed Henry back towards the other playing kids.  
Continuing around to the back of the truck, LA saw Uncle Daryl dropping the tailgate and slide the half butchered beast to the end.  
"Stop Daryl, you know you're not supposed to be lifting. Aunt Carol's gonna be pissed if she sees you carrying half of that thing."  
As he hoisted the front half of the doe over his shoulder Daryl replied "Shut up, you ain't the boss a me and its not like its gonna walk itself over to the kitchen."  
LA took the remaining half and flipped it over her back. For a scrawny thing she had good lifting legs and could easily carry most anything as long as she could get it onto her back. She tromped her load over to the kitchen house. Calling it a house was a bit of a misnomer. Shack was a more fitting title for this out building. The kitchen house was one of about half a dozen out building on the property that the group had come to deem "The Plantation." Everyone lived in the big house in the center of the property. The other buildings included the kitchen house, stables (which only held cows at the moment), chicken coop, a cold cellar, and few other unused shacks. These old slave houses were currently just being used as storage. A chain link fence around the whole property had been strengthened with a hodgepodge of items including metal sheeting, plywood, and even some barbed wire that LA found once while out on a scavenging trip. The group had been here for the last five years. Quite enough time to get comfortable and make quite a life. There was currently 14 people living up in the big house. It was tight sometimes, but at least in the winter it helped everyone keep warm.

As LA was walking her half of the doe into the kitchen house she could already hear Uncle getting chewed out by Aunt Carol.  
"If you hurt yourself again, so help me, I'll just let you rot."  
"You know I wouldn't rot. I'd die and just come back to bother you even more than I do now." Daryl joked.  
"That's not funny" is the last thing LA heard as she closed the door on Daryl and Carol.  
"Hey LA!" Greg yelled as he jogged over "Any luck?"  
"A nice looking doe. Should be enough for a few days." LA explained.  
"Is Daryl in there?" Greg asked.  
"Yep, but Aunt Carol is ripping him a new one so I would give'em a minute if I were you."  
"It's important." Greg explained as he started to open the door.  
"Anything I can help with?" LA asked hopingly.  
"What? No no it's not that big a deal. Uh, I think Beth is over in the garden and could use a hand."  
"Ok," LA hesitated a second before turning toward the fields.

Maggie was the last to join the table as she walked in with the bowl of honeyed carrots. The whole group was here. Squeezed onto the normally eight person "Adult" table sat Daryl, Carol, Glenn, Maggie, Beth and her husband Greg, Christi, Ronaldo, and Jeff. As Maggie set the bowl on the table Carol began,  
"Now that we're all here. Bless us father and forgive us our sins. Bless our friends and family those that are gone from us, especially Sophia, Laurie, Rick, Tyrone, Herschel, Meryl, Cheryl, and Ronald. Bless and keep safe those whose fates are unknown to us, especially Carl and Tyrese. Bless this food we are about to eat. May it nourish our bodies and keep us safe. Amen"  
"Amen" the rest grumbled.  
LA could never quite figure out why Carol kept ahold of her beliefs. The idea that a god would put her here and then cause all of the pain she's gone through is incomprehensibly cruel. But any thought of religion was washed away as she bit into her venison steak. Maggie knew that LA liked her steaks so rare is was almost raw and always made one just for her. Dinner was usually pretty quiet, but this day it was unusually silent. Even relegated to the "kid" table with Henry (Glenn and Maggie's son), Christi's two daughters (Marissa and Marta), and Estaban (Ronaldo's only remaining son) LA could feel the tension, like all the adults were waiting for something.  
After the meal was done and everyone getting up from the table, LA started to help clear the dishes but Carol told her to help Beth watch the little kids.  
"I know something is up. I'm not a child and I want to know what's going on." LA whispered accusingly.  
"Its none of your concern and helping Beth right now will be the best way you can help." Carol retorted.  
"Bullshit, when will you finally start treating me like an adult. I do just as much work around here and I started to do the hunting. I put this meat on the table. I deserve to be a part of whatever going on."  
"If your father heard you talking to me like that, well I don't know what he'd do. Now do as you're told." Carol exclaimed.  
"Yes ma'am" LA lamented as she shuffled into the kid's playroom.

That night LA couldn't sleep. Every time she dozed, she dreamt and every dream was the same. She was running through the woods. The little legs of her eight year old body couldn't go fast enough. No matter how far or long she ran the walkers were always right behind her. Then appearing as if out of nowhere, her father, Daddy. But not Daddy, Daddy was dead but still standing. Daddy was walking towards her. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. Her voice just wouldn't work. Daddy reached down toward her. He bent down as if to kiss her on the forehead. But he moved lower to her neck. He bit hard. Little LA cries out, and then... She was back in her room. The first rays of the morning sun peeking in her window. Marta and Marrisa (Christi's two daughters) were still asleep. LA either hadn't been too loud or they had gotten used to LA nightmares. She had them every couple weeks, but never had they been so intense or frightening. LA decided to start her day early with a walk around the perimeter fence, just to be sure everything was still in order.

The perimeter was about 10 miles around total. It was a pretty long walk for a morning exercise, but LA figured it couldn't hurt to check everything and do some hunting while she was at it. She grabbed her bow, quiver of arrows, and her favorite 9mm, just in case. She didn't see anyone else up so she slipped out trying to make as little noise as possible. The air was cool and after a couple of minutes LA wished she had grabbed a jacket, but she also knew it would warm up pretty soon. She picked up her pace to get her blood moving while she waited for the sun to finish coming up. Moving at a light jog she started began cover a good bit of ground. After about 20 minutes she slowed up as she topped a ridge and saw something she didn't believe at first. Was it really there? It looked like there was hole in the fence. She broke into a full run. "It isn't there, it can't be can it? No it's just the view or angle. The fence is never broken." LA thought. But as she got closer she couldn't deny it. There was hole in the chain fence. All the reinforcements were strewn about. There was fence and then about five feet of nothing and then fence again. "Shit!" LA blurted. Fuckin A!" Then she saw them. The tracks lead straight toward the house. It was a good couple of miles, but the tracks were at least a couple of hours old. Daryl taught her everything he knew about tracking game whether it is animal, human, or walker and these were definitely walkers. It was hard to tell how many, the shambling left smears more than distinct tracks, but there had to be at least a dozen. If they moved at a normal pace they may already be close to the house. LA took off straight towards the big house. How could this happen, there had 't been any walkers around for almost a year. Even on hunting trips they hadn't seen any. LA tried to focus on just getting back to the house. Maybe if she was lucky she'd run into whatever group of walkers had made it through. She could lead them off. Make sure that everyone was ready to defend the house before they got there. The tracks lead through the peach orchard. She stopped at the edge. She didn't like running through all those trees knowing that a group of the undead could be in there. The big house was just on the other side of the orchard though and if the walkers weren't in there they would already be at the house. LA took off sprinting as hard as she could. The trees were in nice straight rows, but the rows were angled away from the house so LA had to weave through the trees. When LA burst forth from the orchard trees, the house was about 100 yards to her left. The trees must have got her lost in orchard. She took a couple of running steps, but slowed to a stop and then crouched down. There was something off about the house. The front door was wide open and there was a side window that had been completely shattered. She started forward again. She didn't hear anything except the slight breeze through the trees and grass. When she got about 20 feet away from the house she saw movement. LA instinctively pulled an arrow from her bag and nocked it into her bow. As a walker shambled out the front door LA drew her bow and took two long strides toward the door. "Inhale, exhale, nock, draw, release" LA ran through her mantra to help keep her focused. The walker turned it head and made low growl just as LA loosed her arrow. The missile buried itself deep into the walker's face just under it's left eye. It feel to its knees and then flopped lifelessly forward on its face pushing the arrow the rest of the way through the back of its skull. LA nocked another arrow and moved forward into the front door. Keeping her bow up and ready to fire, she entered the house. The place looked like a tornado came through. She looked up the stairs; she saw four walkers laying there. She made her way up to the bedrooms, kicking each of the walkers to check for signs of life. As she got to the fourth she looked at its face. She recognize it. It was Ronaldo. He was looking straight up and had a small bullet hole in the middle of his forehead. She didn't see any other wounds, but two of the walkers were laying on top of him. She shuffled past the pile of bodies and continued up the stairs. The room that Glenn, Maggie and Henry all slept in was empty. Daryl and Carol's room was disheveled. A walker laid on its back with its face nearly smashed in, clearly stabbed multiple times with a large knife. Some of the drawers were were open and the contents were thrown about. She moved into her bedroom. No one was there. LA grabbed her "go bag." Everyone in the house kept a bag of supplies ready to go just in case they had to leave quickly. She moved back downstairs and looked out the back door. There was only one car left. Usually there were three cars and Daryl's old motorcycle under the awnings they had set up. Moving thought the door she could see dead walkers all around. Most looked shot but a couple had arrows though their heads. A coupled of smaller bodies caught her attention. LA approached the group of bodies apprehensively. It was Marisa and Marta. They had died together and were surrounded by dead walkers. The two girls arms and legs were bitten and torn ups terribly and there were bullet wounds on the sides of their heads. It looked like they were shot before they turned. LA bent down and closed the eyes of the two girls. As she stood up again she heard the distinctive THWACK-thwack of a old storm door being let go. She whirled around arrow ready and bow drawn. He was covered in blood and held a shotgun in his right hand and a butcher knife in the other.  
"LA?" He asked.  
"Jeff?" LA responded.  
Jeff took a couple of step forward toward LA.  
"Thank goodness your alright. Where were you?" Jeff asked. He was covered with dark, sticky blood.  
LA lowered her bow and started walking toward Jeff.  
"I woke up early and took a walk. Are you ok? What happened?"  
"I'm fine for now. most of it isn't mine. Don't really know. Walkers came right into the house. Christi was supposed to be on watch, but I woke up when a walker knocked a vase onto the floor. I barely had time to get my hands up as it tried to bite right toward my face." Jeff sat down right down on the grass and leaned his back against an old oak. LA sat next to him. He smelled of decay and the metallic odor of blood.  
"What happened to everybody?" LA asked.  
"Christi tried to get her daughters and Esteban out, but Marta got cut off and Marissa went back to try and get her. They got mobbed. Christi got Esteban in her car and took off. After clearing the walkers, I put a bullet in the head of each of those girls. They don't deserve to turn."  
"What happened to Henry?" LA prodded.  
"Maggie, Glenn, and Henry got out in a second car. They moved quick and got through without issue." Jeff hesitated. "Your Aunt and Uncle stayed for a long time. They were looking for you everywhere. I could even hear her calling "Judith, Judith" as Daryl pulled her onto his bike and took off. The rest of the walkers either wandered off or I've been taking them out."  
"I never liked it when she called me that." La admitted.  
Jeff closed his eyes and let out a long breath. "You're Aunt and Uncle care about you a lot. You should try and find them."  
"There not actually blood relatives. they just took care of me after my Dad died." LA explained  
"I know, but Carol liked it when you called her Aunt. I think it made her feel like a real family." Jeff said.  
"Well then lets go find them." LA said.  
Jeff's face instantly changed. He frowned and looked away from LA.  
"I don't think that'll work." Jeff said.  
He pulled up his left sleeve. The outline of a bite was unmistakable. "Besides this place has taken care of me for quite awhile and I ain't going to abandon her now."  
LA had never known Jeff very well. He was well into his fifties and LA always thought him pretty dull. LA pulled out her 9mm and reached it out toward Jeff.  
"Do you want this?" LA asked.  
"No, I've got my old revolver in my bag inside. I always saved one shot just in case. Never thought I'd actually use it." Jeff smiled mournfully. "I never wanted to die here, but I guess it's as good a place as any. You'd better get out of here soon. I have the feeling move walkers are on their way." Jeff stood up. "I'm going back inside to finish that last bottle of Southern Comfort Daryl was hiding. I'm guessing he didn't grab it on his way out."  
Jeff walked back inside, leaving LA siting under the oak tree. She knew she would never see him again and that the plantation was no longer livable for her group. She looked up through the branches of the old oak. There were still a few dead leaves stuck on, but she could see the leaf buds were just starting to appear. LA had gotten over mourning for lost friends and places. Daryl had said humans were meant to be nomadic anyway. She stood up, brushed her pants off and hoisted her pack over her shoulders. Daryl and Carol couldn't be too far away and that bike is probably the loudest thing LA had ever heard. She tightened her grip on her bow, checked her quiver of arrows and set off toward the road.


	2. Chapter 2

Frogs weren't much of a meal but at least it was something. The woods along the river that LA was following had opened up into grassland. LA thought about setting snares for rats or other small animals, but that would mean she would have to stop moving. So frogs were for dinner tonight. Making things worse, LA had slipped in the river trying to get a turtle so she had gotten her boots, socks and pants soaked and they needed to be dried out. Uncle Daryl had told her never to travel with wet boots unless she wanted to get trench foot. She had no idea what trench foot was, but it sounded bad enough. So LA stopped a little early that day so she could dry out her clothes. Starting a fire was never LA's favorite thing, but at least she had lots of dried grass for kindling and didn't have to go to far to get some dead wood. She skewered the three frogs she caught with some sharpened sticks. She then built up her fire just large enough cook the frogs and boil some water. Some hot liquid usually helped her fall asleep, even if it was just water. LA's stomach grumbled even after she ate her day's catch. She looked over her whole body. She had always been pretty skinny, but the time living at the plantation had let her put some healthy weight on. The last few weeks after the attack had been pretty hard though. Staying on the move had kept her from catching much game. She had yet to find a place where she felt safe enough to stop and rest. She could see her ribs and could already feel her hip bones start to protrude. She was going to have to get some real game soon or she would just waste away. LA took the rest of the evening easy in an attempt to save calories. She set a small perimeter of cans set on wires to alert her in case a walker gets too close, but she hadn't seen any after leaving the plantation so she wasn't very worried. LA laid one blanket on the ground and pulled a second thinner blanket over top of her; sleep came quickly.

LA was back at the plantation, in her bed. Carl was in the room they shared. He was packing a bag up with everything he could grab.  
"Can't do it, I just can't do this anymore." Carl was mumbling to himself. "I can't be Dad for them."  
As LA sat up she looked at Carl.  
"What are you doing?" She asked groggily.  
"Go back to sleep Judith. Everything's going to be ok. I just have to leave for a while."  
"How long?"  
"Not too long, just till I can clear my head."  
LA may have only been 13 years old, but she could sniff out a lie like a bloodhound sniffing out a walker.  
"No, you're not planning on coming back, are you?"  
Carl stood up and started toward the door. He lowered his head.  
"Sorry lil sis" was the only thing he said and then he was gone. All LA could do was cry.

LA woke up to tear stains on her blanket and loneliness in her heart. The dream was too much. Carl was the only real family she had and he just left her. LA sat up on her blanket and watched the sunrise. Once the sun was up she packed up her camp. As she poured a couple cups of water on the hot coals that was last night's fire, a slight breeze came in from the east. LA caught a strange smell on it. She couldn't quite place it. It was like a combination of water, salt and just a hint of decay. The wind was coming from downstream of the river and that was the way she had been going, so she figured she might as well keep going that direction. The smell got stronger as she kept going east. Eventually the ground she was waking on started to get softer. The river started to turn into a wetland. She started to have to distance herself from the main body of the river. On the horizon she could see a small berm. As she approached the small ridge the smell intensified and she could her an odd sound, like tons of water sloshing around. The berm was't dirt, it was sand; something LA hadn't had much experience with. As she topped the berm she was awed by what she saw. There was nothing but blue water all the way to the horizon. The sound she had heard came from the waves lapping up to the shore. LA walked down to water 's edge. She took a small handful and tasted it. It was salty, much too salty to drink. She spat it onto the beach. LA walked back to the sandy berm, took off her pack and sat down. The sun was almost at its highest point and she hadn't had a chance to get anything to eat today. She could feel the weakness in her legs. She massaged her calf muscles in an attempt to keep her strength up and muscles loose. Just then LA saw movement off to her right. There was a person wading in the shallows. It was to far off to tell if it was alive or undead. LA stood up and readied her bow. Nocking an arrow she started walking toward whatever it was. When she was about fifty yards off the figure looked toward LA. She could see he had a short beard and was clearly alive, but as soon as he saw her he took off down the beach.  
"STOP!" LA yelled as she started to run after him. He sprinted over the sand berm and LA followed. As she topped the ridge she saw where the man was headed. There was a house just a little ways off. The house wasn't too big and it was on stilts, but it looked pretty nice. The man got there well before LA could catch him. As LA approached the front door a voice came from inside.  
"G-Get out of here. I'll shoot."  
That's when she saw a gun slit next to the door and she realized she was in big trouble. The barrel of a shotgun was pointed straight at her. She looked around and assessed her situation. She was out in the open. There was no cover and her only weapon available was her bow. Clearly if she tried to grab her 9mm it would only end with her being shot. LA decided her best choice was to try and talk her way out, something LA knew she wasn't very good at.  
"I, um, I don't want want any trouble. It's just, I've been on the move for weeks and haven't had much to eat for days. Any help you could give me would be a blessing. Please help." LA put her bow down on the ground and took a couple of steps backwards. The barrel of the shotgun wavered.  
"Drop ALL the weapons you've got." LA tossed her bag near her bow and took her knife from its sheath and tossed it as well. Lastly she pulled her 9mm from its holster and slid it across the sand up next to all of her belongings.  
"I'm begging you sir. You're my only hope." LA pleaded.  
There was a long pause after that. Finally the man said "Stay right where you are." The shotgun barrel withdrew from the wall. The front door of the house opened and in it stood the man. He wasn't as tall as LA first thought, but he wasn't really short either. He was young, probably just a little older than LA. He only had a pair of shorts and light sandals on. His skin was well tanned in color and his hair was a light blond. He looked healthy and strong. He had a little fat on him, but his arms and leg muscles were still well defined. He had a pump action shotgun raised to his shoulder pointed right at LA. LA dropped to her knees. She knew that this could be her end. He could shoot now or take everything she owned and she would die of starvation and exposure, but either way she would be dead. The man walked towed her bag. He kicked at the bag, then the bow and then he bent down and picked up her 9mm. He lowered the shotgun.  
"Any good with this?" the man asked while looking over her gun.  
"I-I'm better with the bow." LA answered. She felt her emotions starting to get the best of her. She felt a tear trickle down her face.  
"Don't cry, I won't hurt you if you don't hurt me. My name's Todd. Come on inside." Todd said.  
Todd stuck LA's gun in the waist of his shorts and started walking toward his house. LA wasn't sure she heard him correctly at first. She felt all her fears dissipate instantly. She got up, ran and grabbed her bag. LA took two steps toward the house and then a thought jumped in her head.  
"This could be a trap. Once in that house he would have all the advantages. He could do anything to me." LA thought.  
LA stopped. She thought about running, but where would she go. This place was probably her only chance to not slowly starve to death.  
"You coming?" Todd said. He had put the shotgun down and was gesturing for her to come in the house. LA swung her bag onto her back and walked inside the house.

The house wasn't huge like the big house back on the plantation. LA could see that it only had the living room, two doors (she figured one was the bathroom and the other was the bedroom), and a kitchen. LA walked into the living area. It was packed with various sundry of items.  
"Go ahead and find a seat." Todd said.  
LA set her bag on the floor and sat on the couch. Todd moved a cushioned chair in front of LA and sat down. He looked her up and down and sat quite for a long and awkward minute.  
"What's your name?" Todd asked.  
"LA, eh, Judith actually, but everyone calls me LA." LA replied.  
"LA, you from Los Angeles?"  
"Lost where?"  
"Never mind, um what brings you out here?"  
"Walkers attacked our house. I got separated and have been moving for a few weeks now."  
"Did you loose anyone?"  
"What?"  
"Did anyone die in the attack?"  
"Yes, four."  
"I'm sorry for that."  
There was a long silence. Todd suddenly looked up like he just remembered something. Todd got up and walked over to the kitchen. He dipped a metal cup into a small barrel on the counter and raised it out dripping with water. He grabbed a metal plate and brought the cup and plate over to LA. The plate was full of yellow bread, corn bread. LA took the plate and started to ravenously eat the bread. The bread was dry and a little salty, but LA felt like she could eat it forever. She looked up from the plate. Todd looked aghast. She looked back down at the plate and saw that there was only a little left.  
"Sorry" LA said, now completely embarrassed with herself.  
Todd smiled back.  
"If I knew you were that hungry I would have feed you before asking you questions. No don't stop eating, I've got plenty of corn meal."  
LA started eating again, but this time a little more civilized. She ate every crumb on the plate and sipped the water. It was warm, but tasted nice and clean. Todd spoke up.  
"Now if you're going to be staying here for a while, well, we're just going to have to trust each other right?"  
"I guess so." LA replied a little confused.  
"So if you trust me, I'll trust you ok?" Todd said.  
"Alright" LA said, still a unsure of what Todd meant.  
"Well that's that then. I've got some more chores to get done today so why don't you go ahead and get some sleep. Bedroom's on the left, bathroom's on the right."  
After that Todd got up and walked out the front door. LA still wasn't quite sure what had happened. She got up and walked over to the gun slot next to the front door. She saw Todd walking away toward the ocean and then he moved out of sight. LA walked into the bathroom. A basin was filled with water on a stand. LA washed her face and be arms. The water was near black when she was finished. She threw the water out the bathroom window and set the basin back in its place. She left the bathroom and opened the door to the bedroom. LA almost cried when she looked in the room. The bed was disheveled, but looked so comfortable. She slipped off her shoes and socks and climbed into bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

LA woke up to the sound of the waves lapping on the shore. The sun was shining through the window. She rolled over to edge of the bed. She set her feet on the floor. Her muscles were stiff to the point of pain. She wobbled as she stood. She stretched out her legs, her back, and then her arms. She opened the bedroom door slowly and saw Todd sleeping on the couch. LA snuck out of the bedroom. She moved to the barrel of water in the kitchen. Using the cup she had from the day before, she filled the cup and drank deeply. As she refilled the cup she heard movement on the couch.  
"Good morning." Todd said rubbing his eyes.  
"Good morning," LA replied "thanks for everything you've done for me. I think you probably saved my life."  
"You talk like you're planning on leaving." Todd said.  
"Well I figured that I should be moving on. I've already been too much of an imposition."  
"If that's the way you feel, I won't stop you. But before you go I'd like to apologize. I've been on my own for awhile now and I guess it's made me a little jumpy." Todd said abashed.  
"You're apologizing to me? I didn't expect that. It really-"  
Todd cut her off.  
"Really, I wouldn't really mind if you stayed. I've got enough staples to last both of us and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one fishing in a hundred mile radius. And my solar water still produces plenty of clean water. And well, it gets lonely around here since my parents died."  
"What happened? Walkers?"  
"No, Mom got sick. Pa called it scarlet fever. That was two years ago. Pa had to put her down after she...you know. Well after that Pa never really could move past it. One day he swam out out into the ocean and never came back. That was six or so months ago." Todd explained.  
"My Dad died when I was six. He got hurt in some accident and it got infected. It became septic and he died. My Mom died when I was born." LA said.  
"I'm sorry." Todd replied.  
There was long silence after that. LA just stood there not sure if she should leave or stay. After a minute, Todd stood up.  
"Um, I made some more of the corn bread last night. Why don't you have some and I'll go check the lobster traps."  
Todd walked out of the house. LA looked out the front window and saw Todd walk down the beach. She wasn't sure what a lobster was or how someone trapped them, but she hoped it was edible.

When Todd came back that evening he had the two biggest crawdads LA had every seen. She assumed they were the lobsters but didn't ask as she thought it would make her sound stupid. Todd built a fire under a huge pot of water. Once it started to boil he just through the lobsters in and boiled them for a few minutes. He then fished them out and the two got down to eating them. They sat on the beach and ate with nothing but there hands. LA liked the lobster a lot, but thought steaks were still better. Neither Todd or LA said anything while they ate. Once they were done Todd spoke up.  
"Thanks for staying. You're welcome here as long as you'd like."  
"Thanks, I don't think I really have anywhere else I can go. I'll earn my keep." LA said.  
"I know, I can tell your not the kind to leach of off others. Besides I haven't been able to hunt since I ran out of ammo two months ago."  
"Wait, you don't have any bullets. Even for that shotgun you were pointing at me?"  
"Whoops, yeah, I guess I was bluffing during that whole thing." Todd said with a little smile on his face. LA punched him in the shoulder playfully. Todd smiled at LA and she smiled back at him. LA got up and walked back inside and came back out with a cast iron skillet.  
"This is how my Aunt Carol made her cornbread. It's better with a little honey, but it looks like you don't have any."  
Todd and LA sat on the beach watching the waves and eating the cornbread. After the pan was empty Todd laid back on the sand.  
"The weather looks good tonight. It'd be a good night for sleeping under the stars. The house can get a little stuffy sometimes." Todd said.  
"Sounds ok, are walkers a problem?" LA asked.  
"Nah, I'm a light sleeper and they're noisy enough that they've never been able to sneak up on me." Todd explained.  
LA leaned back and relaxed. The sun was almost completely set and a warm breeze from the land had already started to blow from behind them.  
"I think I could get used to this." LA thought as she slipped off to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

LA had been tending the spring crops all morning. The lettuce, broccoli, and radishes were nearly ready to harvest. LA hated broccoli but Todd said he liked it so LA would do her best to harvest some. The veggie fields were about a half mile in from the beach. The soil was sandy, but arable. Todd was a wiz growing corn, hence the abundance of corn meal, but had real bad luck with just about any other plant. Luckily LA had paid a little attention to Beth out in the gardens and fields back on the plantation and had picked up a few tricks. Once she was done pulling the weeds, she tossed her tools in her bucket and headed back towards the beach house. Todd was there getting some of his gear ready as LA approached.  
"Up early as usual?" Todd asked.  
"Yep, not a big deal."  
Todd had given LA the bedroom and he slept on the couch most nights and even though both were light sleepers LA could usually sneak out in the morning without waking him up. She preferred doing the garden work in the morning just to get it out of the way so her day was open for other chores.  
"I was planning on taking the boat out and trying to catch some fish. The winds look good and I'm feeling lucky." Todd said.  
Todd had explained to LA that his family had salvaged a boat a couple years ago and fixed it up. They could travel a hundred miles or so out to sea or up and down the coast with it.  
"Oh, OK. Anything you need help with?" LA replied.  
"Actually I'd like you to come. I was hoping to spend a few days out to get some deeper water fishing and I'd feel better having someone around to help."  
LA knew he really meant was that he didn't want to leave her alone. He had become pretty protective the last few weeks. Normally LA would have hated being treated like that. Funny thing was, she didn't really mind it coming from Todd.  
"I've been on a canoe and an old rowboat. I don't know the first thing about sailing." LA said.  
"That's ok, I'll teach you. You've already got all the knots down. It's a lot easier than it looks."  
"Sure, I'll start packing a bag."  
LA walked into the beach house and started packing her "go bag." She had kept it well stocked, but being on a boat meant she could take a few extra items. She threw her bag over her shoulders and walked out.  
"Ready." LA said.  
"K, take this load down to the pier and I'll finish stashing the food."  
LA grabbed the load of bait, lures, and and a bag of food and headed down the beach. The pier that the boat was tied to was about half a mile south if the beach house. Once there, she loaded all the gear in the sailboat. The boat was about 25 feet long and the mast was 35 or so feet high, though it was stowed with the sail and laying on the deck currently. La pulled out her knife before she did anything else and checked the cabin and deck for any stowaways. After finding nothing she went below deck and started to put the food away that she had brought with her. After a few minutes she heard a voice.  
"Permission to come aboard Captain." Todd said jokingly.  
LA came out from under the deck and saw Todd standing their holding a comical salute.  
"It's your boat, you're the captain." LA said.  
Todd lowered his hand and started to load the gear he had brought onto the ship.  
"No owning the boat makes me the "Master" of the ship. So therefore I can make anyone I want the captain and you're it."  
"Whatever" LA said smiling.  
Todd seemed to know just how to make her smile most of the time. Mostly he just acted the fool; which was something LA really wasn't used to. Todd tossed LA the last bag.  
"Well, can I come aboard?" Todd asked  
"Get on your boat or you'll be walking the plank."  
"Yar" Todd said, giving LA his best pirate impersonation.  
Todd started to unwrap the sails and get the mast up. The ship had an engine, but it didn't always work and the gas was hard to find. So Todd used it only in emergencies. Once the mast was up and sail was unfurled he asked LA to untie the ship from the dock. As the ship began to pick the wind up in its huge triangular sail it started to gain speed. The shore was soon just a line on the horizon.

"How far are we going out?" LA asked.  
"Pretty far I think, I've got a good course plotted and the wind is great. Can you take the wheel?"  
Todd started to walk away from the steering wheel before LA could even respond.  
"What the hell am I supposed to do with this thing?" LA yelled after gabbing the small steering wheel. "I don't know how to sail."  
"Do you see the compass in front of you? We just need to keep heading southeast. Keep the needle around 135 or so." Todd replied calmly from below deck.  
LA looked right in front of her and the compass swinging back and forth from about 130-132. LA slowly turned the wheel to the right and the boat turned ever so slightly and brought the needle back to pointing tat 135. LA sighed loudly, just hoping she didn't get them lost at sea forever. Todd then came from below deck holding three huge fishing poles.  
"What are we planning on catching with those?" LA asked  
"Anything that takes the bait." Todd answered.  
LA rolled her eyes at him. If sarcasm was his game then LA would let him play it alone. Todd started to rig the poles in silence LA preferred that at the moment, she still wasn't very comfortable piloting the craft. Once Todd had two poles rigged with bait and cast out the lines he took the controls from LA.  
"Cast out the pole with the lure. I have a good feeling about that one." Todd said.  
"If your good feelings could feed us then we'd never go hungry." LA replied.  
"Don't knock my hunches, its bad luck."  
"Whatever."  
LA started casting out the third pole that had been outfitted with a lure about three inches long. She had never liked fishing. Hunting was more her style. Being on the move and then stalking the prey made for a much more intense experience. Fishing was just casting and hoping for a bite. The day was spent in almost complete silence. The two simply relaxed and continued in their relative tasks. LA casting and reeling and Todd steering the boat. They snacked on dried meat and some hard cornbread. The waves were small and calm as they continued southeast. As the sun was just past high noon, one of the bait poles all of a sudden started whining as the line was being pulled. LA nearly feel overboard as Todd barreled past her to grab the pole. He immediately started reeling. LA set her pole in a holder and once more took the wheel of the ship. Todd had given her a few pointers earlier and she was feeling a bit more confident. It took about twenty minutes but eventually Todd pulled a four foot fish with a huge gapping mouth.  
"What is that?" LA asked  
"A grouper. Pretty good eating."  
The fish started flopping back and forth in Todd's arms, but eventually started to slow its flailing. Todd laid the fish on the deck and put a new bait on the hook and recast the line. The catch put smiles on both their faces. Once Todd finished cleaning the fish, he said  
"Hey, why don't we lower the sail and throw the anchor down here."  
"Sure, as good a place as any."  
LA tried to put on a nonchalant tone, but she was relieved that they stay in one spot for awhile. As Todd lowered the sail, LA tossed the anchor overboard, making sure that the line was secured tightly to the boat. Todd sliced off small bites of raw fish and handed some to LA.  
"Is it safe to eat raw?"  
"Yep, as long as its pretty fresh. Besides can't really start a fire here on the ship. Once we get back to shore we can smoke most of the fish and just eat the rest."  
LA actually liked the raw fish. It was light and clean tasting. Over the next few hours the two caught half a dozen fish, some large, some smaller but all edible. As the sun started to go down the weather started to turn. The waves picked up and that didn't agree with LA's stomach.  
"I don't know what's wrong, but I feel like I'm going to hurl."  
"I didn't know you got motion sick."  
"Neither did I." LA said as lurched down stairs into the cabin. LA laid down on one of the two bunks and tried to keep her stomach from revolting. LA tried every position she could, but none of them helped her feel any better. LA heard Todd coming down the stairs.  
"Feeling any better?" Todd asked.  
"Ugh, no. We're lucky I haven't thrown up all over this floor. Is there anything you can do to get us back to land?"  
"Sorry it's too dark now. But here, this always helped me when I was younger."  
Todd started to climb into the bunk next to LA.  
"What the hell are you doing?" LA said.  
"Just trust me ok. This isn't anything weird."  
Todd climbed into bed and wrapped his arms around LA. She found the feeling strange at first. She had shared a bed with other people but never had someone wrapped their arms around her the way Todd was at this moment. His arms were strong but felt comfortable. Having him there made her feel like the world wasn't swaying quite as strongly. Her stomach started to settle. LA opened her eyes and was looking straight into Todd's face. His eyes were closed and he looked like he was sleeping. LA raised her head and glanced up the stairs and could see that night had fallen and there was not going to be much fishing anymore. Todd stirred.  
"Feeling better?"  
"Yeah actually."  
Todd started to move away from her and she grabbed his arm.  
"No, please stay." LA asked. They looked into each others eyes and could see that neither wanted to sleep in the other bunk tonight. LA did the only thing she could think to do at that moment. She tilted her head and kissed Todd gently, quickly. A light peck; just to test the waters. As she pulled her face away she could see the surprise on his face.  
"Was that ok?" she asked.  
"Uh, yes. Just surprising"

Todd reached his hand behind her head and pulled her closer. Now he was kissing her. Passionate and warm, the kiss lasted longer than either were expecting. It seemed like forever before they separated.  
"Well, we'd better get some rest." LA said timidly as she gazed into Todd's eyes.  
"You're right. It's been a long day."  
Both closed their eyes in anticipation of sleep, but a few minutes later Todd spoke up.  
"Hey, what does LA stand for anyway?"  
"What?" LA was already dozing when Todd asked the question.  
"If LA doesn't stand for Los Angeles, what does it stand for?"  
"Well when I was a baby they nicknamed me Little Asskicker."  
Todd chuckled at that and closed his eyes. He was asleep almost immediately. LA on the other hand laid there, watching Todd sleep. She worried he would wake up and catch her, but that seemed unlikely. For some reason she wasn't as tired now. She felt a nervousness that she couldn't quite explain. She was so tired before Todd had spoken a minute ago, but now her mind was running. Talking about her past was not something she used to. Todd, on the other hand, had told her nearly everything about him. Why was she so uncomfortable speaking about herself? Questioning her motives just made her angry at herself. She rolled over, putting her back to Todd and facing the wall of the boat. She cleared her head imagined some of her more recent hunting trips. She used her hunting mantra to clear her head of any unpleasant feelings. "Inhale, exhale, nock, draw, release" LA whispered, the sound only audible to herself. Her mind was still racing, but she eventually drifted off to sleep, needing to repeat her mantra like others might count sheep.

She couldn't find it. There's no way he could have taken it with him, could he? Her small hands throwing out everything in her dresser trying to find it. She needed to see it, hold it in her hands. She had to know that her whole life and family had been real. Had they all just been part of her imagination? No, of course not. They were real. They were gone now but they were real at some point. Right? That's why she needed to find the picture. It was the one thing, the one piece of proof that proves that they were real. She had a family. It wasn't in her dresser. She had looked everywhere. Young LA collapsed in the middle of her room, sobbing. Clothes, sheets and everything else she owned was strewn everywhere, but the one thing she wanted wasn't anywhere to be found. Carl had given her that picture a long time ago saying "Don't forget that you have a family and this is what we looked like." But he had taken it back. He had taken the picture when he left the night before.  
"What's wrong? Where's Carl?" Aunt Carol said.

The thud woke LA up. It wasn't a thud of something hard hitting the boat but something heavy but soft hitting the floor. LA rolled over and saw Todd standing up from the floor rubbing his head.  
"You OK?" LA asked wearily.  
"Yeah, just fell out of the bed."  
At that point LA realized that the boat was rocking really hard. It wasn't the choppy, quick small waves of last night. These felt like huge rolling waves sliding underneath the boat. Todd was already out and working on the rigging the sail when LA made it up to the deck. The feeling of the boat rocking reminded her of the one time she stole a bottle of Jack Daniels and drank a third of the bottle before anyone stopped her.  
"We're heading back to shore right?" LA asked as she grabbed onto a railing to keep her from falling overboard.  
"Just as soon as the sail's up."  
About 30 seconds later Todd was at the wheel heading west towards the shore. LA wanted to get back to shore as quickly as possible, but couldn't take her eyes off the eastern horizon. The sun should be coming up, but no light was coming from that direction. The sky was completely overcast and the clouds seemed very low and ominous. The wind was also picking up. LA hoped that meant they would get home sooner, realizing she already thought of the beach house as home.

The journey out to sea had seemed to take forever, but the trip back in felt like it was over in minutes. Todd was off the boat and tying it up to the dock as soon as they were within five feet. LA threw her pack over her shoulders and started picking up the fishing gear when she saw Todd running down the pier.  
"Where are you going?" LA yelled.  
Todd stopped and turned around at the end of the dock. The wind was starting to get so strong that it was getting hard to hear.

"We've got to get out of here." Todd yelled back as he began running back toward the boat. He grabbed LA's arm and started pulling her down the pier. Just as they hit the sand and turned toward the house the rain started to come down. The two were completely soaked by the time they got in the house. LA started squeezing the water out of her hair and laughing at their misfortune, but Todd still looked very anxious.

"What's wrong?" LA asked  
"I don't think this is a normal storm." Todd replied as he started to pick up a piece of particle board from the bedroom and place it over the front window.  
"I need you to nail this in place." Todd instructed.  
Todd explained what exactly what a hurricane was and why he thought they were now being hit by one. The two of them boards up all the windows, afterwards Todd seemed much more comfortable.

"Are we supposed to do anything else?" LA asked just as the noise from the wind starts to get louder.  
"This is what my parents did so I think it should be enough."  
The two of them sat on the couch in the living room. LA leaned over and rested her head on Todd's shoulder. He wrapped his arms around LA and the two held each other for quite some time. Meanwhile the winds continued to increase in speed and strength. The waves were getting bigger and surging up the beach. Eventually the waves started to even touch the stilts that the beach house was standing on. LA started to hear a noise on the roof. She was standing in an instant.

"It sounds like something is on the roof."  
"I don't think so. I think the shingles are flapping." Todd said trying to calm LA down.  
"I have to check." LA insisted.  
"No it's too dangerous."  
LA didn't hesitate, but instantly regretted her choice once she opened the front door. The room was calm one second and the next it was a tornado of wind, paper, sand, and water. LA squinted her eyes and charged outside. She looked down to the beach and saw nothing but raging water splashing nearly up to the door. LA ran back inside and slammed the door shut, needing all her strength against the force of the wind. She turned around back toward Todd, "Sorry," LA said "but the water's come up the beach and is almost to the door."  
"What?" Todd said, but LA didn't get chance to respond. A crack as loud as a gunshot rang through the air and the whole house shuddered. A second gunshot crack came a short moment later and the whole house moved. The two realized at the same instant that the stilts were breaking. Cracks began to appear all over the walls and ceiling. The two hapless inhabitants rained motionless from fear, uncertain whether to run outside or stay and hope the house held together. Everything seemed quiet for a moment. The wind seemed quieter, more distant for a few seconds, then a full minute. Then like hammer falling the wind struck the house with a renewed force that made LA scream. The whole house shuttered and began to move. The sudden shift knocked LA off her feet. She hit the floor hard and only had second to glance up as the ceiling fell on top of her, knocking her unconscious.


	4. Chapter 4

The pain was the first thing LA felt. Her head was throbbing. Next she realized that she was cold, and...wet. She opened her eyes and saw the sky. Through leaves and branches she could see that it was still overcast and dark. The wind was still blowing but at a reasonable speed now. She started to remember what had happened. The house collapsed and Todd...where was he? She sat up with a start and immediately regretted it. The whole world started to swim and she felt like she was going to throw up, and then she did.  
Spitting the last bits of vomit onto the ground, she decided she had to find Todd. She looked around to get her bearings. She was at the edge of the forest and could see the beach in the distance. She noticed her pack sitting on the ground next to her when she heard something moving through the forest. The walkers moan was unmistakable. LA saw it about 15 feet away. It had clearly been dead for a very long time. The entire left side of its face was decayed down to bone. Neither of its eyes remained in its skull but it was coming straight toward LA.  
Her bow was conveniently sticking out of her bag. She stood up unsteadily and picked up her bow and a single arrow. She drew the bow and took aim, only now realizing she wasn't seeing straight. Everything in her vision was doubled and blurry. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get a clear aim. The skeletal creature was now just under ten feet away. LA loosed her arrow. It sailed past the creature's head, embedding itself in an old oak with a loud thud. The sound seemed to draw the attention of the monster. It turned its back to LA. She seized her opportunity. She drew her hunting knife and with a few big strides she closed the distance. With all the strength she could muster, she plunged the blade into the back of the walker's neck just below the skull. With a quick twist of the blade came the sickening pop of a joint dislocating. The walker immediately collapsed to the ground. It's mouth was still snapping hard, but all signals from the brain to the body had been cut.  
LA kneeled down next to the monster and drew the knife from monster's neck. She stabbed the head once through the temple and all movement stopped. LA ripped a small piece of cloth from the walkers tattered clothing and wiped the dark blood off of her knife. She tried to stand, but stumbled and caught herself on a tree. She collected her wayward arrow and walked back to her pack. She shuffled through her pack and saw that it was stocked with everything she expected: dried food, rope, an extra knife, her gun, and various other small implements. Hearing footsteps behind her, LA grabbed her bow, nocked an arrow, and quickly turned around. Todd was standing there in her sights.  
"Woah, its me, it's me."  
"Sorry, walkers are around. The storm may have woken up some old lurkers."  
"Sorry, if I'd known I wouldn't have left you alone. You took a pretty good blow to the head." Todd said as he put down his load of bags and boxes. "I salvaged some of the food I stashed before we left on the boat. A lot of it got ruined by the salt water, but some of it's still good."  
Todd started sorting thorough the bags of food. Putting some of it in his bag and some of the ground next to him.  
"Do you have room in your pack for some of this?" Todd asked as he looked over to LA. She was sitting on the ground, knees to her chest. Her arms were hugging her legs and her face was buried into her knees. Todd could hear light sobs coming from her. He walked over and wrapped his arms around her. She hugged him back and buried her face in his shoulder.  
"Why can't I just catch a break? I just want a place to be happy." LA sobbed.  
"We'll find a new place. There has to be some place out there. Some place with people where we can be happy. Maybe we can go out and find Daryl, Carol and the rest of your family."  
"You think we can find them?"  
"It's worth a try."  
"Ok."  
LA composed herself now that she had a goal. Sh was going to find her aunt and uncle. They were her family. They weren't blood family though. She only had one piece of blood family left.  
"Can we look for Carl?"  
Carl? Your brother. He left a long time ago. He could be a long ways away, but I don't know why not. We can look for anyone you want."  
LA got up, wiped her eyes and threw her pack on her shoulders.

The pair of travelers did their best, but it was slow going. The hurricane had torn up a lot of the landscape. The forest was nearly impassable, keeping the young couple near the beach before they could turn west and inland. They met up with a few walkers, but dealt with them easily. They travelled north for three days, but the coastline was littered with small deltas and wetlands and the rain upstream had swelled their banks. It was wet and miserable. The only consolation was that they spent a lot of time in their tent together. Todd and LA talked for long hours about anything they could think of. Todd explained to LA the math and history his parents had taught him and LA taught Todd about the tracking and hunting that she had learned from Daryl. On the fourth day they decided to forge their way west. The forest here was thinner, with stretches of grassland and open fields. They passed by several large houses and took shelter in a few.  
They were massive houses and clearly were owned by the rich. By now they were in terrible shape though, some barely standing. There was also little to salvage. These types of houses would have been looted as soon as chaos broke out, but LA was able to scrounge some sandpaper and salt. The former useful in shaping arrow shafts and the later was in high demand as they weren't able to salvage much from their stores before they left.  
On the fourth morning of heading west they came upon a large four lane road.  
"The sign says Interstate 95." Todd said.  
The road ran north and south. LA never liked to travel on roads as it left you exposed, but there was still a lot of hiding places for sleeping walkers to lay in wait.  
"I don't know. Roads are dangerous but if we don't cover some ground, we don't have hope in finding anybody." LA responded.  
"I don't see many cars, the road'll be a lot easier to walk on."  
"Ok, we can take the road north for a few days while the rest of the ground dries out a little."  
So the pair moved north. Walking on the road made the going very easy. Cars were few and the ones they did find weren't more than rusting mounds of metal and plastic. Day one on the road ended with almost fifteen miles travelled. Day two had almost twenty miles traversed before the two decided to stop and make camp. The two were in such good spirits they kept the fire going well into the night, not to mention the rabbit LA and shot with her bow took a little longer to cook than they had wanted. LA liked her meat on the raw side but when it came to small game, she preferred to cook it well. The chance of parasites was just too high to risk it. As the two ate the game meat in the dark, they planned out their next move.  
"So any ideas on where we could find any of your family?" Todd asked.  
"Well, Unc and Aunt Carol would always tell me stories of my dad and their group around Atlanta. I think he would head that way when trouble hit."  
"Not a bad idea. We're not too far from Savannah and this road should take us right to it. From there we can get our bearings and head toward Atlanta."  
The rumbling of an engine gave both if them a jolt of fear. LA looked up and down the road and could see headlights heading toward them from the north.  
"Shit," LA said. "Grab our stuff and hide."  
Todd grabbed their packs and ran further into the woods lining the highway. LA tried to kick some dirt onto the fire and put it out as much as possible. They didn't have time to do anything about the tent before a vehicle stopped about thirty feet short of the camp. Todd had found a patch of bushes to hide in and LA joined him soon after the vehicle stopped. They could hear voices approaching.  
"I think you're seeing things again."  
"I'm telling you, I saw smoke coming from around here."  
LA could see that the three men approaching were carrying long guns of some type.  
"Do you smell smoke?" One of them asked.  
"Yeah, maybe you're not crazy."  
"You stay here and keep your eyes open. You're with me."  
Two of the men started to approach their camp. The darkness made it hard to make out distances well, but LA pulled out her bow and prepared to fire in case they got too close. She had never shot a person before, and wasn't comfortable even thinking it. She was feeling hesitant; she wanted to run.  
"Come out, we know you're out there." One of them yelled out.  
LA looked over at Todd. Even in the diminishing light, she could see the pure fear on his face.  
"Come out or I'll shoot." One of the men yelled out.  
Todd stood up immediately, his hands in the air. LA wanted to take off deeper into the woods, but she would probably have been spotted and she didn't want to have to hide in the woods alone. She put down her bow and stood up slowly. The two men where walking toward them, guns raised. They grabbed Todd and LA roughly and tied their hands. After being searched and striped of all their weapons and supplies, they were taken to the men's vehicle. They were pushed into the back of the humvee. They were blindfolded and had their legs bound. The men didn't say anything the whole time, no matter how much Todd or LA protested.  
Once in the car LA had basically given up. They were caught and completely powerless. The fear and anxiety began to well up in her. Where were they going? What would they do to them? The tears began to well up in her eyes.  
After about thirty minutes of rough driving the humvee stopped and the back was thrown open. LA felt her feet being untied and then they were pulled out of the back.  
"Where are we, what's going on." LA protested.  
"Shut up,"One of the men said "I've heard enough from you. So either shut up or I'll shut you up."  
LA was walked for a few feet and then they stopped. Her hands were untied and then she heard the sound of chain link fence. She untied her blindfold and ascertained her situation. She was outside, but surrounded by chains link fence about ten feet high and seven feet square. There were bright lights shinning down on her from large lights set on a pole about twenty feet high. The floor was just dirt and there was nothing else there. LA counted six other cells connected to hers, all empty except one. In the cell farthest from hers, there was Todd. They looked at each other for a long time. Todd looked more ashamed than anything. If he had only keep his courage intact and stayed hidden, they may have just gotten away. LA wanted to be angry with him, but she had been just as scared as him. She knew that she was on edge of giving them up as well. So she couldn't be mad.  
"It'll be ok." LA shouted out.  
"No speaking." The guard yelled at the two them. That was just enough to trigger LA's temper.  
"What are you going to do about it, ya bastard." LA said right back to the guard.  
"Don't do it, just shut up." Todd urged.  
Two guards, both armed with assault rifles and wearing some type of uniform, walked over to the gate of LA's cage. They unlocked the door and LA got ready. No matter what was going to happen, LA would fight them.  
The first guard walked in and got a face full of LA's right foot. The roundhouse kick connected with such force that the guard crumpled to the ground. The second guard was too quick though. He took the opportunity while LA was still off balance from the kick to attack. He took the butt of his rifle and cracked it straight into LA's forehead. LA stumbled back and dropped to one knee. Now seeing stars, LA tried to pull it together to dodge the guard's next attack. She just badly evaded the left jab, but didn't even see his right knee coming up to connect with LA's jaw.  
That was all it took for LA to fall prone. Once on the ground LA was defenseless. She was able to curl herself into a ball, but that didn't stop the guards from kicking and beating her. After a good minute of brutal beating, LA passed out.

LA woke up in what seemed to be a hospital bed. The room was small and had no windows. LA was in pain all over her body. She couldn't see out of her left eye. It was swollen shut. She checked over her whole body. She had clearly been washed and had some clean clothes on. She didn't feel like any bones were broken, but it hurt to breathe in too deep. She guessed that there may have been some bruised ribs.  
There was some bread and a pitcher of water with a glass on a table next to the bed. She nibbled at small pieces of bread and sipped at the water, it hurt to open her mouth too much. After a couple of minutes a lady in a pair of scrubs walked in.  
"First of all don't speak. It's one of the rules around here, but you can answer yes or no for medical reasons. Understand?" The lady said. LA almost started to protest, but then thought better of it.  
"Yes." LA replied.  
"Good. Would you say the pain is more than a five out of ten?"  
"Yes"  
"More than an eight?"  
"No"  
"Ok, I'll see if I can get you something to help with that. I'm going to press on your belly here and say yes if there is any sharp pain."  
The woman pressed her fingers onto LA's abdomen in a few places. LA had a dull ache from some bruises in that area, but no sharp pains.  
"Any pain?" The lady asked.  
"No" LA replied.  
The woman shone a small light in LA eyes and watched the reaction. Then she walked out. A couple of minutes latter, she came back with a steaming mug.  
"This'll help the pain a bit. It'll help you sleep. That's the best thing you can do right now. Finishing eating what is here and then drink the tea. LA finished what was left of the bread and drank the tea. It was a little bitter, but had also been sweetened with honey. She found the most comfortable position and was asleep quickly.

LA was standing in a field. Everything was the grey of twilight. She tried to move, but she could barely feel her legs. She looked around. There were walkers everywhere. She tried to run, but again her legs wouldn't respond. She focused hard. Her legs began to move. She walked slowly. The walkers didn't seem to notice her though. She walked and walked. The hoard of walkers was never ending. She started to calm her nerves. The walkers weren't attacking. She tried to speak, but again her body wouldn't react. All she heard has the guttural sounds of moaning walkers. She tried to call out, but realized the growls and moans she was hearing was coming from her. She looked down at her hands. The skin was grey and sagging off of her bones. Her clothes were torn and limbs were thin and boney. She was a walker.

LA woke up. She was starving. She found a tray with bread, cheese, two cups and a bit of dried meat. She was feeling better and could easily open her left eye as well. She inhaled the food, but was still hungry. She looked in the cups. One was water and the other looked like milk. She drank both down in just a few gulps.  
Just as she was finishing the milk, the doctor in scrubs walked in.  
"I thought I heard you. Now remember the rule I told you about. Someone will explain the other rules soon. Any pain?"  
LA opened her mouth to explain, but instantly remembered the rule from last night.  
"Yes" LA said  
"More than a five out of ten?"  
"No"  
"Less than five then. That's good. You seem to heal fast, but you did sleep for three days."  
LA was taken aback. She slept for three days, no wonder she was hungry. The doctor continued.  
"I'll see if I can get you something more to eat and drink."  
She walked out of the room. LA tried to relax, but she couldn't help but word about the "other rules" the doctor mentioned. That's when she realized that her legs were chained to the bed. She panicked for a minute but took a few deep breaths. Chains were small and not very tight. She could move around the bed easily, she just couldn't leave it.  
A few minutes after the doctor left, LA could hear the doctor's voice outside of her room.  
"I'd like to have her for a few more days. She took quite a beating. She's lucky to have survived."  
A man's voice replied. It sounded rough and horse with age and malevolence.  
"I want her now. She's new here and I've already taken care of the boy that was with her. I'll be back tomorrow morning to collect her."  
The doctor walked in a second later with a tray of food. She didn't say anything and simply set the tray down and left. LA ate and drank. There was a good amount of food and she was full in no time.  
That night she could barely sleep. She had slept for three days so she was already ahead on her rest, but she had so many questions going through her head. Who was the man? What about the other rules? And most of all, what happened to Todd?  
The next morning she was awoken by the sound of her door opening. The doctor came in and walked to the back of her bed. There was a few clicking noises and then the whole bed started to move. The doctor wheeled the bed out of the room and down the hall. At the end of the hall were a set of metal doors. A man in grey hooded robe was standing in front of them. The same rough voice from the previous night spoke.  
"I'll take her from here."


	5. Chapter 5

"Stand up." The hooded man ordered after unlocking the chains from LA's feet. She nervously scooted her way to edge of the bed and stood up. She suddenly felt extremely vulnerable standing with nothing on but a thin cloth hospital gown.  
The man lead LA to the set of doors and down another hallway. This part of the building looked more like an office building than a hospital. He opened an old wooden door and gestured for LA to enter. She walked in. The room had a window, but it was blacked out with a dark curtain. The room had two metal chairs and a single light fixture. There was a small pile of clothes on one of the chairs.  
"Get dressed, I will be back shortly." Then the hooded man left.  
LA took off the gown and put on the clothes that were left on the chair. They were old clothes and were baggy, but it was definitely better then the gown. She started to check the room. She couldn't see any kind of cameras or anything hidden. The door was locked and the curtain blacking out the window was nailed in place. She could see just a bit of sunlight peeking through the edge. LA just sat and tried to relax.  
After about ten minutes the hooded man walked back in. LA sat up in her chair, not sure if she was going to have to fight or try and run. He sat down in the second chair, in between the LA and the door.  
"I know the doctor told you to not to speak, but here that rule is suspended. This is one of our confessional rooms. Normally we check new residents for bites and injuries, but the doctor has already checked you and it seems your mortal life continues. So now we must speak of your mind and attitude."  
"Wait I'm not telling you anything until I get a few answers first." LA said.  
The hooded man sighed loudly. "Speak and I will try to answer." The man took his hood off and LA got the first clear look at his face. He was easily older than uncle Daryl. He had a short, white bread and wrinkles all through his face. His skin was the color of tanned leather and carried plenty of scars. His brown eyes didn't look cruel, but he carried an air about him of absolute power. Power that didn't need words or threats.  
"Where am I? Is this Savannah?" LA asked.  
"Yes, but we like to refer to the city as the Temple of Eternal Life."  
"Where's Todd?"  
"Todd?" The man didn't seem to recognize the name. "Oh, is he boy that was brought in with you? He has been checked, confessed, and has been given his work orders and living quarters."  
LA let out a long breath. At least it seemed he was still alive. She didn't have any reason to believe him, but he didn't seem to be lying. They might make it out of this yet.  
"So what do you mean by confessed?" LA asked, remembering he had mentioned it twice now.  
"We will get to that. Is there anything else?" The man said. He seemed like he was starting to get annoyed.  
"Just one last thing. What's your name?"  
"You may call me Father Ricardo or just Father if you like."  
There was a short silence as Father Ricardo pulled out a clip board and pencil from under his robe.  
"The confession has now begun. Anything you say to me is in the utmost of confidence. It will only be shared with other priests of the eternal life. Do not lie or punishment may ensue. Do you understand?"  
"Ok" LA said remembering the "punishment" she had already received.  
"What is your name?"  
"LA, well er, Judith Grimes but everyone calls me LA."  
"Alright, Judith." When he spoke her real name it set a shiver down LA's spine. He continued.  
"Have you ever killed a person?"  
"No."  
"Have you ever killed a member of the ever-living?"  
"The what?"  
"A member of the ever-living? A person who has died and joined the horde of ever living souls."  
"You mean walkers? Yeah I've put down walkers."  
Anger flooded Father Ricardo's face.  
"You will not refer to them like that. They are they ever-living ones and you will join them soon if you blaspheme in my presence again." He was yelling, but the rage in the man's voice gave LA pause.  
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean any offense." LA apologized, realizing she was again in a situation where the only way out was by talking.  
"Good, now how many have you killed?"  
"Um, I'm not sure. In my whole life, maybe a couple hundred." LA was worried this May anger Father Ricardo, but he simply made a few markings on his clip board.  
"Do you have any skills?" Father Ricardo continued.  
"I can hunt and track." LA said.  
"Hunting will be of no use to you here. Anything else?"  
"Um, well, I know a bit about farming and cooking." LA said hoping that he couldn't pick up on how much she was stretching the truth.  
"Humph. One last question." He turned over his clip board and set down his pencil. "Were you intimate with the boy you were brought in with?"  
LA was shocked. She never expected a question like that.  
"That's none of your business, but NO if you must know."  
Father Ricardo narrowed his eyes and stared right into LA.  
"Do not lie to me girl. We will find out. Have you ever been intimate with any man." Father Ricardo asked. He was raising his voice and LA's anger started to be replaced by fear.  
"No, never." LA said.  
"Good, at least you have one thing going for you." Father Ricardo store up and walked to the door. He opened it and grabbed a pile of blankets up off the floor.  
"Here, you may be here for a day or two while we figure out what to do with you." He threw the blankets on the floor and walked out. Followed by the distinct locking sound of the door behind him. LA felt violated and angry, but tried to calm herself and rationalize the questions. She did't find any success it though. She just kept thinking in circles. What would happen now? Could she escape? Maybe it won't be so bad here? Could she see Todd again? All questions and no answers.  
Eventually she was able to get a small corner of the black curtain to pull away from the window so she could see outside. The window looked onto a courtyard in the middle of this square building. She was at least four stories up. There as still a good amount of light, but she couldn't see the sun. She guessed it was near evening and she may only have a few hours of day light left. She tried the door lock many times and looked for any tools she could try to use to pick the lock. She didn't have any success at this either.  
As dusk was falling, a tray of food was slipped to her under the door as well as a small pouch of water. LA didn't realize how hungry she was until she started eating. The bit of stale bread and over cooked vegetables weren't nearly enough and LA craved some protein. She tried to get comfortable and sleep, hoping the new day would bring better luck.

Walking down the dimly light hallway, LA kept looking at the grey doors and simply continuing past. All of the doors were indistinguishable from one another. They kept on and on, seeming to never end. LA started to check the door knobs. She finally opened a door and saw nothing but darkness. The dimensions of the room weren't even visible, the darkness was so complete. She could hear footsteps coming from inside. Out of the inky black she could begin to make out a vaguely human shape. As the person came into view she could see it was Todd. She took a steps towards him, but his shape began to distort and change. As he continued to walk toward her, she saw the figure become her father. Her father stood in the doorway looking at her the same way he always used to. The same mix and fear and anger, masked by a smile. She used to hate the way he never showed his real feelings and always masked himself from everyone, especially her. He stood there with that sad smile for what seemed forever. He took one step forward into the dim light of the hallway and then LA could see it. His face was pale, but not the grey of the undead. He was still wearing the same smile, but there were tears in his eyes. There was only one time she ever saw her father cry...

The clicking of a door knob woke LA up. The lock to her door was being opened. She immediately reached for her bow. It wasn't until her hand touched nothing but air that she remembered it was taken and she had nothing to defend herself with. She stood up ready to take on anything that tried to hurt her.  
When the door opened, Father Ricardo walked in.  
"It looks like you are lucky today. A space has opened up on our kitchen staff in the city center. Take this."  
He took a step closer and offered a folded piece of paper. She unfolded it. It seemed to some kind of identification pass.  
"What's this?"  
"Your ID and work orders. Keep them on you at all times. Now follow me."  
Father Ricardo walked out and down the hallway. LA followed. She thought about trying to run off. She might be able to get away and out this building, but she realized that she didn't have any idea where she would go after that. So she just followed, hoping for an opportunity.  
They took a number of flights of stairs down to the ground level. This floor was completely empty of people, except for a few guards standing near the front door. When they saw Father Ricardo they immediately tensed up and seemed to get nervous of getting too close to him. LA felt a little better as soon as she was outside. Being able to fully see the sun for the first time in a few days was uplifting. LA followed Father Ricardo to a large gate to the north of the hospital building.  
The gate was a chain link gate about 10 feet tall with razor wire on the top. LA looked up and down the fence. It was the same chain link and razor wire as far as she could see. The area had a few buildings, but it had a number of empty foundations where it looked like buildings should be. A pickup truck filled with barrels and wooden boxes was waiting for the gate to open.  
Father Ricardo talked with the driver for a minute or two and then opened the passenger door. He gestured for LA to get in.  
"You're going to be helping Pete out today. When he's done with you report to barracks four."  
LA got in the truck quietly. The driver, Pete, looked to be in his early thirties. He was clean shaven, about average height and had a fair bit of extra weight on him. He spoke with a hard southern accent.  
"Now r'member here. Keep yer tongue behind her teeth and do what I say."  
LA closed the door and glared at him. The gate started to open and Pete started driving the truck. As soon as they where past the gate Pete started speaking again, but only just above a whisper.  
"Now I won't hurt ya, but there are some 'round here that will. So try and keep her nose clean. Oh and don't think about runnin' off. I don't care much, but if I lose ya, they'll give me a lashin' or worse."  
Pete drove the rest of the way in silence. They went pretty slowly. The roads they were taking were clear, but were cracked and had quite a few pot holes.  
It took about half an hour when they reached another gate. This one seemed indistinguishable from the one they left. Pete stopped and honked his horn twice. The gate slowly opened and they drove through.  
The town they were now driving through seemed much more lively than the place they came from. There were some people walking on the streets and LA even saw two young kids playing in an empty lot. This gave her a bit of hope that this place wouldn't be as bad as she thought.  
Pete stopped the truck behind a building with a big sign out front that read "Mess Hall #2-Citizens Only," but on the building itself had faded letters reading Jackson Middle School. Once the truck stopped both of them got out.  
"Start unloadin' the water barrels, now be careful they're heavy. Use the ramps and dolly I got in the back. I'll go see about gettin us some lunch."  
That's when LA remembered that she hadn't eating all day and really didn't even know what time it was. She didn't even have an appetite anymore. She set up the ramp on the back of the truck and started to wheel the first big blue water barrel down. Her muscles were screaming with pain right away. Lack of food had sapped all her strength.  
Soon after LA had gotten down the second barrel Pete came back with two plates.  
"Burgers for lunch. Eat quick, we got a lot a work to be done."  
LA took the plate. The quarter pound burger and fried potatoes made her stomach tighten and gurgle. She sat next to the truck and ate quietly. Her plate was empty before she knew it and was still starving.  
She looked up and saw Pete was only half way through his burger and staring in astonishment, and maybe a little sadness, at her. He got up with and slide his fries onto LA's plate.  
"They didn't tell me much about you, but I'm guessing they didn't feed ya much when they brought ya in."  
LA shook her head and tried to give Pete an appreciative look. He seemed to understand as he finished his burger in a couple of big bites and started to unload the boxes from the truck.  
That's how the day went. They seemed to drive from fence to fence or they would drive from a farm like area to a building. Some buildings simply looked like they were for storage and others were marked mess hall or water station. It was load this and unload that. Occasionally Pete wrote some notes or check marks on some papers he kept in the truck.  
When dinner came around they were back at the first mess hall they had arrived at just before lunch. They ate spaghetti and tomato sauce and again Pete gave LA some of his food.  
"Well, time for my last delivery of the day and you're it. I'll take ya o'er to yer bunk house and drop ya off." Pete said. After dropping their plates off back inside the mess hall, they hopped back into Pete's truck. They drove through the streets for about ten minutes until they reached what looked to be a set of apartment buildings.  
"Your room should be on the papers that the Father gave you. See ya around." Pete said as LA got out of the truck.  
LA pulled out the papers that Father Ricardo and skimmed down. On them it said "Residence-Block B, Building 4, Room 16." She looked up at the buildings. There were big numbers, one through four, painted on the sides. She walked to building number four and found apartment 16.  
She stood in front of the closed door for a couple of minutes. She wasn't sure if she should knock or just walk in. She gathered her courage and opened the door. The apartment looked like it had two rooms. The first room seemed to be originally meant as a living room, but it had three beds and a few nightstands arranged against the walls. The second room was smaller than the front room and only had two beds and nightstands. There was also a small bathroom with a shower.  
LA turned on the water. It ran nice and hot. LA had never seen a set up like this. Aunt Carol used to reminisce about running hot water, but she never thought she would be living in a place that had it. LA took off her clothes and washed under the warm water. She stayed in the shower until her skin was wrinkled and near scalded.  
She got out of the shower and dried off with what looked to be a clean towel. She put her clothes back on and walked out of the bathroom. Just as she was walking out, the front door to the apartment opened. Four women were standing in the doorway staring at LA.  
"Oh, you must be the replacement." One of the women said.  
Three of the women looked Latino and the fourth was older and had jet black skin. She was the one who had spoken to LA. The three Latinas walked in the room and ignored LA completely. The black women walked right up to LA and looked her up and down. She was much older than LA, probably in her forties. She was a bit shorter than LA, but had an air of authority about her.  
"I guess you're going to be my roommate." She said in an odd accent that LA had never heard before.  
LA looked around. The three Latinas were already getting into the beds in the living room.  
"Come on, I'll show you your space." The woman then led LA back to the bedroom.  
"What's your name, child?"  
"LA"  
"Hm, well LA I'm Laurette. I'm your boss now. I run the kitchen. Why you looking at me so weird."  
"I've never heard anyone speak like you."  
"I was born in Haiti, little girl. Now listen kindly and I'll tell you what you need to know to survive around here."  
LA listened carefully as Laurette explained about the jobs that LA was going to be expected to do. It sounded like mostly food preparation and cleanup.  
"Now listen here, you've got your papers now so your not an "outsider" anymore. You can speak to anybody, but you'd be smart to keep polite to everyone, especially to Brother Swanson. He's the overseer of the mess hall. So you do what he says real quick and you'll be good."  
LA had a bunch of other questions, but Laurette just kept going after only a short breath.  
"There's a strict curfew for us civilians. You'd better be back here as soon as you're done with your work. Now the citizens stay out a little longer. Brother Swanson, he's a citizen. They're the supervisors and overseers. They're mostly made up of married families and they're the only one that can have kids, but that's beyond the point. The point is just watch your manners. Now get yourself to bed, tomorrow you start working."  
LA still wanted to ask her questions, but Laurette seemed like she was done talking for now. LA figured there would be time for her questions tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

It took three weeks of working in the kitchen, but LA finally had a change of luck. Kitchen work was hard, but LA could steal a bit of extra food once in awhile and Laurette had always looked the other way. Though Brother Swanson was supposed to oversee the kitchen, Laurette seemed like the one who ran everything. It was during the morning drop off that she saw _him_ again. Todd came in the back while LA was starting a pot of water to boil. They saw each other at the same time and both were speechless. LA took a quick step toward him, but Todd shot her a halting glance.  
He looked around suspiciously, knowing that there were too many people around. He passed by LA, carrying his load of eggs toward the the one working refrigerator. LA came up behind him as he opened the door and started to unload the eggs.  
"We'll need those this morning so there's no reason to put them away." LA said, almost a little too loudly.  
"OK where would you like them." Todd replied.  
"Over here." LA beckoned toward a counter where nobody happened to be. Todd followed. He set the eggs down and LA started cracking them into a large bowl.  
"Where have you been?" LA asked  
"They've got me working the fields and livestock. One of the delivery guys is sick, so they roped me into delivering food today." Todd whispered as he started to crack eggs as well, so it looked like he was doing something. "It's good to see you. They told me you where in the hospital, but they didn't tell me anything else. I thought you might have died."  
"Well I'm still alive, so what's the plan to get out of here."  
Todd seemed surprised by what LA was saying.  
"What do you mean? I-"  
"Hey, Kid, you're here to unload stuff, not talk to my girls. Get your ass back to your own work." Brother Swanson yelled as he walked over to them. Todd walked off quickly and out the back door.  
"That boy bothering you?" Swanson asked LA.  
"No, he wasn't bothering me." LA replied.  
"Good, I don't want any of my ladies being bothered. Especially one as pretty as you."  
Brother Swanson reached up and pushed a bit of LA's hair and slid it back behind her ear. He started to walked away, but turned back after a couple of steps.  
"Oh, and be sure to address me as 'sir' from now on, OK?"  
"Alright...sir." LA replied.  
"That's it, you're a smart girl." Brother Swanson then walked off and out of the kitchen.  
LA kept working on the eggs and after they were cracked and whipped, she took the bowl over to Laurette. She was at the stove cooking.  
"Looks like the Brother has taken an interest in you. He likes to flirt with the younger girls like you. Play your cards right and you might get on the short list for citizenship."  
"What?" LA replied  
"Citizens can recommend us civilians for citizenship. It doesn't always work, but it can really help."  
"Why would I want to be a citizen? Most of them seem like assholes."  
Laurette gave LA a quick wack on the her hands with her wooden spatula and then waggled the spatula in LA's face.  
"When you become a citizen, you get a life like we had before all this happened."  
"I was born like a year after all this started. I don't really care much for the world before the walkers."  
"You could get a life without so much work, get a family, be happy. That's what you should want."  
"Whatever."  
LA walked away mostly annoyed. Who was Laurette to tell her what she should want. Pretty much every citizen she had ever met was pompous, stuck up, and an overall ass. But they were allowed to do things that LA would probably get beaten for doing. They got houses of their own and could move about pretty freely. They also helped make decisions. Maybe citizenship wouldn't be such a bad thing.  
LA kept hoping that Todd would make some more deliveries to her mess hall that day, but her luck had run out. She was near tears as she walked back to her barracks. All she could think about was that she may never see him again if he went back out to field work. Maybe if she could figure out where he worked or where his barracks was then they could escape. She would need supplies, and weapons. That would be the first priority. LA slept well that night. Having made her mind up, now all there was to do was to plan and then execute.

They had only been at the big house for a couple of weeks, but the fighting had already started. It happened whenever they stayed at any one place for too long. LA tried to stay out of them, but Carl always seemed to be right in the middle. She took her best shot at getting some sleep, but the bed still felt strange. After months and years of sleeping on the ground, a soft bed was just weird.  
The door shot open and Carl's heavy footsteps where clear. LA rolled over and looked at her brother.  
"Oh, sorry about waking you." Carl said.  
"I wasn't asleep. This place is still too, too, I don't know, big."  
"Too big? I remember mom and dad used to argue about how they needed more room. Back before the walkers came." There was a long silence. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring it up again."  
"It's OK, I never even knew Mom. All I've got is the picture. I don't know why I feel like I miss her so much." LA said.  
"I miss her too."

Two days after seeing Todd, he hadn't shown back up again. But something else happened. The morning of the second day, one of the delivery guys asked for LA by name. He walked up behind LA as she was, once again, starting a large pot of water to boil.  
"LA?" He asked.  
She immediately stood straight up. It was Pete. She hadn't seem him since her first day out of the hospital. He was holding a wooden crate of eggs.  
"These are for you." He said.  
As he handed over the crate he grabbed LA's right hand. She felt something in it. If felt like paper. She palmed the paper and took the crate of eggs.  
"Thank you." she said.  
Pete walked away without another look. LA looked around to make sure no one was looking and slipped the paper in her pocket.  
After the breakfast rush, she slipped away to the bathroom. She pulled out the paper. It read:

LA,  
I'm glad you're safe in the kitchen there. I think we might be able to be safe here together. We won't have to be running all the time. This place has walls, food, water, and even electricity. As civilians we can't be together. But if we could get promoted to citizens, we could. We could have a house and a life together. I don't know when we may be able to talk again but until then I'm going to try and work my way towards citizenship. I think you should do the same.

With all my love,  
Todd

So he wanted her to be a citizen too? The thought was a little more bearable if she knew that they could be together as citizens. But they would be stuck here. There would be no searching for Daryl, Carol, Glenn, Maggie, or...Carl. A knocking on the bathroom door made LA jump.  
"You alright in there girl? You've been in there for a bit now. You're not getting sick are you?" Laurette said for the other side of the door.  
"Sorry, I'll be right out." LA said as as her voice cracked a little. She washed her hands and looked in the mirror. Her face was flushed and her eyes were blood shot. She opened the door and Laurette was standing in the doorway.  
"You're not getting sick are you, child?"  
"No, it's just, uh, allergies."  
Laurette's looked into LA's eyes and her voice changed.  
"Child, tell me now why you've been crying."  
That was all it took. LA wrapped her arms around Laurette and sobbed into the old women's shoulder.  
"There, there. You tell me what's happening. I won't tell anyone. Your secrets are safe with me."  
LA told Laurette everything. About being at the plantation, being chased out by zombies, about finding Todd and being captured and taken here, and lastly about Todd's letter.  
"You really want to escape that badly don't you?"  
"Yes, I can't live like this. The walls, the rules, everything."  
"Child, I know how you feel. This place is not a heaven, but it wasn't great out there." Laurette took a long pause. "I'll do what I can for you child. I know what it's like to be trapped."  
LA pulled herself together enough to ask "What do you mean?"  
"If you've been growing up in this world, I suppose you don't know much about the rest of the world. Haiti is an island south of Florida. We left there when I was seven. We lived in Miami. There was a lot of things there that made us all feel trapped. It doesn't matter. The point is I'll do what I can to get you out of this place."  
LA was speechless. There really wasn't anything to say. She have Laurette another hug and walked away and tried not to speak to anyone else the rest of the day.

That next morning, LA got approached by Brother Swanson.  
"Hey girl. Judith, right?"  
"Most people call me LA, sir"  
"OK, LA. I'd like to see you in my office later after dinner. I've heard some things that I need to talk to you about."  
He walked away after that. LA was terrified. What did he know? Did he know about Todd's note? Did he know about her hope to escape?  
LA had trouble focusing on her jobs the rest of the day.

After the dinner rush was over and most of the clean up was done, LA excused herself to Laurette. Laurette wasn't excited to be down one person to finish the cleaning, but there wasn't anything they could do about it. LA walked through the cafeteria and down the hall to the room where Brother Swanson had set up his office.  
LA knocked on the door. It was an old wooden door with frosted glass on the top half. LA heard Brother Swanson's muffled voice.  
"Come in"  
LA walked in. The room was a small, windowless space, about ten feet square. There was just a desk with a few papers scattered about and Brother Swanson sitting behind it.  
"LA, thank you for coming to see me."  
"Sure, is there something wrong sir?"  
"Why would you think that? Is there something you want to tell me?"  
LA's heart skipped a beat. Should she lie?  
"No sir, just wondering why you wanted to talk to me."  
Brother Swanson stood up, walked around to the side of the desk and sat on the edge.  
"Well mostly I wanted to make sure everything was alright working in the kitchen. Sometimes it can be a bit of a henhouse with all the women in there. Ladies talk and talk and talk."  
"No sir, everyone has been pretty nice to me. We all do our jobs."  
"That's great, just great. I'm glad you're getting along. Though kitchen work can be pretty tough. Long hours, back breaking work. I'm sure you'd be happier doing something else."  
"It's OK, I'm pretty tough sir."  
"Yeah, you seem like a tough and smart girl. Now I'm sure the others have told you about citizens and civilians right?"  
LA nodded, not sure where he was going with this.  
"Now, did they tell you how a civilian gets promoted to citizen?"  
"Just a little."  
"Well you see, there is a counsel of the priests. Father Ricardo sits on that counsel. It's him and six others, but that's not important right now. You need a current citizen to vouch for the candidate. Then the counsel debates and decides. It's really that simple."  
"That's interesting." LA was getting more confused.  
"The hard part is getting a citizen to vouch for you, but you seem like you might be a good candidate."  
LA took a deep breath. She recognized that she needed to seem relaxed even if she was nervous. Brother Swanson continued.  
"You're young, healthy, and pure. I could vouch for you, but I would need something from you first."  
Brother Swanson walked up to LA. He set his hand on her shoulder and ran it down her shoulder.  
"My wife died a few years ago. I've been looking for a new one. Someone just like you."  
LA ripped her arm from Brother Swanson and bolted out of the office.

LA didn't want to go back to the kitchen the next morning. She didn't feel safe, but she went anyways. She hoped Laurette could shed some light on any plans to escape. Brother Swanson hung around the kitchen more than usual. He tried to stay incognito, but LA caught him looking at her quite a few times throughout the day. He didn't approach her until just after dinner was over. LA was straightening up the shelves in the pantry when she turned around and found him in the doorway. The pantry was about twelve feet by six feet, but the shelves made it so that you could barely turn around and only take about four or five steps into the room. Brother Swanson made an imposing figure in doorway. He stood only a couple of inches taller than LA, but he was at least 50 pounds heavier than LA  
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I wanted to apologize for yesterday. You see, I've just been lonely since my wife died."  
He closed the door to the pantry and kept talking.  
"We tried to have kids, but we never had any luck. Then she got sick and just couldn't fight it off. Now you show up and you remind me of her. It's like she's come back to me."  
Brother Swanson started walking toward LA. She tried to position herself closer to the door, but there was no way around him.  
"I'm sorry about your wife sir."  
Swanson stumbled up to LA tears in his eyes and hugged LA. She nervously hugged him back. She rotated their bodies so her back was to the door.  
"Call me Jack, my name is Jack."  
She could smell the alcohol on his breath as she broke away from his grasp. She turned to open the door, but couldn't turn the nob. It was locked. She looked back as Jack took a step and was right up against her.  
"I wanted to talk to you alone. No one's going to bother us."  
He grabbed LA's shoulders and ran his right hand down her back. She pushed him away and he stumbled into a rack filled with jars. A quart jar of peaches fell on the ground with a crash.  
"Open the door." LA ordered.  
"I tried to be nice. We could've helped each other, but I guess we'll just have to do this the hard way." Brother Swanson sneered as he picked up a large shard of glass from the broken jar. He took a quick step toward LA and pushed her up against the door. He turned her about and reached around to hold the jagged shard up to her throat from behind.  
"Now you're not going to scream right?" He asked as he reached around and started pulling at LA's pants with his left hand.  
"Whatever." LA spat back at him.  
She reached up and grabbed his right arm with both hands. Using all her weight she pulled his forearm down a couple of inches. She bit into his arm and felt the skin break and tasted blood.  
Brother Swanson stepped back, holding his bloody forearm. LA spat the blood out. The sight of LA standing there with his blood covering her mouth sent Brother Swanson into a rage. He struck out toward LA's belly with his impromptu knife.  
She easily turned her body to side step it. LA grabbed his right wrist with her right hand. She yanked Brother Swanson forward just enough to set him off balance and get him to lean forward. Then she brought her left elbow down onto the top of his head with everything she had. He crumpled to the ground and didn't move.  
LA rifled through his pockets and found the key. She immediately opened the door and went straight to the bathroom. She washed as much of the blood off of her face and clothes as possible. Just as LA had her shirt off and in the sink, Laurette burst in.  
"What in heaven's name happened?" She said.  
In that instant, everything washed back over LA. Just how close she had been to being raped or killed. Tears started to stream down her face. The older and smaller woman took LA in her arms and tried to comfort her.  
"There, there. Tell me what happened and it'll all be alright."  
LA related Brother Swanson's attempted assault and LA's escape.  
"He didn't get up after I hit him. Is he OK?" LA asked.  
"Don't worry about anything. Now here's what's going to happen. You're going to put your shirt back on and march back to the room and wait for me. It's nearly dark, so no one will probably notice anything. The clean up should be done soon so I'll send everyone else home as well. Nobody else knows and I'll take care of this. You trust me don't you child?"  
LA looked into Laurette's eyes. They were caring and calm. LA nodded and stood up straight. She put her shirt back on and walked out if the bathroom, out of the building and straight to her bed.

She drifted in and out of consciousness. When she saw Laurette walking into their room she thought it was a dream at first, but then she felt herself being shaken awake.  
"Child, I need to talk to you." Laurette said  
"Laurette, yes what is it? Is Swanson alright?"  
"It's all taken care of dear. But if you still want to escape your chance is going to be soon. Everything you need is under your hidden under the floor board here. Laurette pulled out a small, thin piece of metal and pried up a board off the floor, revealing a hidden space.  
"Now, only get it out when it's time. Speak to Pete, you remember him. He owes me, he'll help you. Now go back to sleep, I've got to go back outside a finish a few things." Laurette said as she stepped toward the door.  
"But the curfew?" LA asked.  
"Don't worry. I've been around the block a few times. I can handle myself."  
"You didn't answer me before. Did I kill Brother Swanson?"  
"No, child. You didn't kill him. But I did."


End file.
